Breaking Vegas: Lessons in Project Management

The first show was about a con called "post betting", which basically means switching around the chips after you know if you've won or not. It's basically a simple system: distract the dealer, swap the chips, ask for your money.
The second show was about a computer programmer who changed the code inside slot machines so that he could make them pay out. When he realized that there was some danger involved, he switched to another gimmick of being able to predict winning Keno numbers.
Team #1, swapping chips, was very successful. Over several years they made millions of dollars, traveling the world. Team #2, the programmer and his friend, not so much so. Their scheme didn't work that well and the gig was up in a hurry.
The first group concentrated on the basics: have a simple plan that everyone understands, practice the fundamentals, be prepared for all eventualities, follow-through after the win. The second group: technology. The programmer and his friend bought expensive radios, James-Bond type earpieces, secret codes and passwords.
Too often in technical projects we gravitate towards the "over engineered, prima donna programmer" paradigm of software development. It usually leads to complex solutions, magic people, and dependencies that we didn't want.
Instead, maybe we should all concentrate on the fundamentals. That doesn't mean that there never should be any complexity -- far from it. But that if we grow complex solutions, it should be a natural consequence of playing by the book. I try to remember the old saying KISS. Keep It Simple, Stupid.